October, 2010 archive
The Politics of Hate 0
In the Guardian, Paul Harris considers the apparent increase in violence against gay men. I say apparent because, although there have been some high-profile incidents in the news, the statistics aren’t in as to whether the it’s the quantity or the reportage that has increased.
Rosie Swash muses on the relationship amongst hate, homophobia, and hard times. A nugget:
The President’s Weekly Address 0
Excerpt:
I want to close these tax loopholes. Instead, I want to give every business in America a tax break so they can write off the cost of all new equipment they buy next year. That’s going to make it easier for folks to expand and hire new people. I want to make the research and experimentation tax credit permanent. Because promoting new ideas and technologies is how we’ll create jobs and retain our edge as the world’s engine of discovery and innovation. And I want to provide a tax cut for clean energy manufacturing right here in America. Because that’s how we’ll lead the world in this growing industry.
These are commonsense ideas. When more things are made in America, more families make it in America; more jobs are created in America; more businesses thrive in America. But Republicans in Washington have consistently fought to keep these corporate loopholes open. Over the last four years alone, Republicans in the House voted 11 times to continue rewarding corporations that create jobs and profits overseas – a policy that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
Mixed Feelings 0
Torn between being sorry the Phillies lost and thinking that an extra-innings finish after an 8 p. m. starts would have been too late for me.
Public Shirks 1
At that moment, a 35.4-mile tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan’s Seikan Tunnel. Television stations across Europe showed the event live.
And we can’t manage a two mile-long tunnel under a river because building it means that folks who have lots more money than they know what to do with might end up with merely having more money than they know what to do with.
QOTD 0
Oscar Wilde, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
Facebook Frolics 0
Ethan Gilsdorf considers role-playing, Dungeons and Dragons, All Hallows Eve, and Facebook in the Boston Globe. A nugget:
I’d argue all these experiences — including posting a witty Facebook update — are cut from the same role-playing cloth. We all share that desire to be someone else. To be better, stronger, faster; to appear more handsome, more clever, more attractive than our fleshy selves might ever be. “My, aren’t we having fun?’’ say our photos, snapped while we’re half drunk and posted in a day-after haze. On my Match.com profile, I offer clues that might seduce. I suggest, in a whisper of pixels, “I am your ideal man.’’
He Called for Help; He Got Fired 0
This kind of stuff really must end. It’s time to let go of the hate. If you are a Christian, another way of putting it is this: It’s time to live by the Gospels, not by Leviticus.
If you think that gays are icky, it just reveals that your mind is icky.
It’s called “Projection.”
Yesterday’s News: More Banks Bite the Dust 0
I was busy yesterday evening updating the OS on my netbook, so forgot to check what the good folks at the FDIC did last night:
Throw away your pre-printed deposit slips for these outfits. You can’t use them any more.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another handgun decides to ad lib:
A man accidentally shot his young son and his own mother Saturday morning.
The man was cleaning his 9 mm semiautomatic handgun when he shot both his 4-year-old son and his own mother, Doña Ana Sheriff’s Department investigator Bo Nevarez said.
All seriousness aside, if you’re not careful enough to unload a gun when you are clea–never mind.
Spring Has Spring, Fall Has Fell 1
It looks like it’s finally time to roll out the quilts.
QOTDWeek
0
Franklin D. Roosevelt (I think I shall keep this one on the front page for a while. It needs remembered):
Judgment Day 0
It’s harsh.
But on target.
Point Counterpoint 0
Via True Blue Texan, “It gets better”:
Via Donviti, “It gets worse”:
IT GETS WORSE
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